I have listened with interest to the contributions of Deputies to the debate on this motion. I will respond to some of the points and issues raised. First, I acknowledge that every person who spoke was supportive of the motion not to make the contribution to the rainy day fund, in view of the costs involved with Covid-19 and because there are other priorities at this particular point in time. As I mentioned in my opening statement, fiscal support of over €41 billion, which is nearly one fifth of the national income…

The adoption of the new personal injury guidelines by the Judicial Council and their subsequent commencement in April this year is a significant achievement. It was achieved eight months ahead of the schedule as originally intended. The new guidelines should provide much greater transparency around award levels, in addition to reducing payouts for many common injuries and leading to lower legal fees by encouraging greater use of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, to settle claims.  Accordingly, this shou…

It has been a number of months since the guidelines were introduced. I want to put it on the public record that there has been a decline in the cost of motor insurance premiums, as per the figures produced on an ongoing basis by the Central Statistics Office, CSO. The cost of insurance has reduced by at least 20% in recent years and that has continued right up to the present quarter. The early indications from PIAB show reductions of up to 40%, which will see a proportionate reduction in the overall costs making up…

I want to take this opportunity to inform the Deputy that the Department of Finance sought agreement last week from the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach that it engage in pre-legislative scrutiny of the insurance (miscellaneous provisions) Bill 2021. Tomorrow, I will ask the committee, of which the Deputy is a member, to set an early timescale for that. We want it to be done before Christmas because it will eliminate issues like the loyalty penalty for home insurers and motor…

Through the Chair, I have not misled the Dáil.

I have not misled the Dáil.

There is a request to the committee for pre-legislative scrutiny, to which it has agreed. I am asking the Deputy and his colleagues on the committee to give the matter their urgent attention in order that we can deal with it promptly. The duty of care legislation will be going through the justice committee, not the finance committee. The particular legislation to which I referred is being dealt with by the latter. I welcome the opportunity to be in the committee with the Deputy doing that pre-legislative scrutiny i…

The programme for Government includes a number of commitments to the credit union sector. I intend to shortly issue proposals emanating from the review of the policy framework for consultation. This will involve meeting with representative bodies and other stakeholders, a commitment I made in my recent engagements. In total, I have had 23 meetings with credit union stakeholders this year, including with representative bodies, collaborative ventures, service providers, the credit union advisory committee and the Reg…

First, the policy review referred to in the programme for Government is at an advanced stage. In the coming weeks, we will have a clear timeline for that process, but it is imminent. Second, growing the credit union movement, as referenced in the programme for Government, is essentially about growing the credit unions' loan book. They have adequate deposits and savings. They do not need to grow those to any great extent. In fact, the extent of their savings can cause them financial difficulties in the negative inte…

I look forward to briefing the Deputy, as well as the opportunity to brief the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, on developments as we progress. A total of 19 credit unions were approved in early 2021 for participation in the Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme. The Government has provided substantial funding for retrofitting. There will have to be some elements of providing funds by the homeowners themselves. The credit unions are the ideal movement to provide that vital type o…

The NCID contains information on the cost of non-life insurance claims. Life insurance is not part of my brief for this particular purpose. The Central Bank of Ireland is responsible for collecting this information, as well as for managing the NCID under the Central Bank Act 2018. It can allow the scope of the NCID report to evolve in line with requirements. The Central Bank has already identified a number of enhancements it is planning to make to future reports.  For motor insurance, this will include increased hi…

Absolutely. We will have an outstanding level of transparency about these issues. The first thing that I should say every time I talk about insurance, especially about home and motor insurance, is that we know about the loyalty penalty for the motor insurance industry. Many people who have a policy for more than ten years are paying 10% or 15% more than they should be. We will make arrangements to ensure that that is dealt with. The same happens with home insurance but the penalty for people who stay with the same …

The most common claims being dealt with by the new guidelines were for soft tissue injuries, whiplash etc. They did not deal with catastrophic injuries. People who have lifelong catastrophic injuries need all the funding they can get. I should have said earlier that the Minister for Justice gave a commitment today, when guidelines were announced, to prepare a report at the end of this year, which is only a month or two away. That commitment is on the public record. We will shortly see a report from the Minister abo…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 and 123 together. As the Deputy may be aware, in July the Government published the first implementation report of the action plan for insurance reform, which shows that work is progressing well, with 34 of the 66 actions contained therein completed. The sub-group’s focus now is on implementing the outstanding actions on time. One of the key achievements of the Government’s reform agenda is the new office to promote competition in the insurance market, which I chair. The office is…

I thank the Deputies for their comments and I want to give practical examples of what we are talking about. I met the Alliance for Insurance Reform last week and I hope to meet it again next month and the month after. It has indicated a number of pinch points where some groups are having difficulty getting insurance and that is a particular problem. The survey it referred to only included a number of businesses and is not reflective of all those businesses that have no problem getting insurance. The average price o…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: “Dáil Éireann resolves that the Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2021 be deemed to be read a second time this day nine months, to allow for the progression of the Review of Policy Framework which is at an advanced stage and for such progression to be taken into account in further scrutiny of the Bill." I welcome Deputy Harkin's Private Members' Bill because I firmly believe that we both share the objective of strengthening and expan…

I acknowledge the issue raised by Deputy Cahill regarding insurance cover for rural pursuits. Ireland's unique natural amenities not only play a key role from an economic perspective, more importantly, they also serve to enrich the quality of life in communities across the country. Accordingly, I do not take the challenges of both the accessibility and affordability of insurance for outdoor pursuits lightly. The case the Deputy outlines is really about lack of access. The issue of affordability has not featured in …

I thank Deputy Cahill for highlighting this acute issue that has only come to our attention in the last number of weeks. On this exact point, I received an email just yesterday from one of the county farmers' hunts expressing their anger and frustration at what has happened in this area. In the email I received, they highlighted that the loss of Ireland's hunting community would have dire consequences for our sport horse industry and point-to-point racing and that the lifeblood of our racing industry would be immed…

At the outset, I acknowledge the issues raised by Deputy O'Donnell regarding the difficulties being experienced by businesses in the leisure sector with respect to the availability of insurance cover. This industry plays a key role, not only from an economic perspective, but more importantly often serves to enrich the quality of life in communities across the country. Accordingly, I do not take the challenges that these companies and groups have experienced with regard to the obtainability and affordability of insu…

I again thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is a very live issue, especially in the leisure sector, and he referenced the ice rinks as a particular area of difficulty. I will ensure the transcript of this debate is forwarded to those in the Central Bank tomorrow so they will be able to take on board the points he has made directly in the Chamber. While I cannot direct them as to what to do, I can certainly pass on the information and the content of this debate. They may not be sitting up watching the debate…